Locked Up and Locked Down: Multitude Lingers in Limbo Revised Edition

Locked Up and Locked Down: Multitude Lingers in Limbo is an existential account of mass incarceration in the United States criminal justice system. It traces the development and consequences of the retributive justice system through the argument of George Hegel that “once a criminal always a criminal.” In contrast, the author draws on the works of Pope John Paul II, St. Augustine of Hippo, and W. E. B. Du Bois to make a case for the recognition of a “second chance” and respect for human dignity in the US criminal justice system. Locked Up and Locked Down is a solution-based analysis of the disproportionate rates of incarceration of especially Black and Hispanic men, women, and youths. It is both descriptive and prescriptive. The goal is criminal justice reform that is holistic, smart, and restorative. As an appeal, it calls upon religious institutions in the United States including the Black Church to intervene.